With the confirmation that DaMarcus Beasley will require knee surgery and miss the remainder of Rangers' season, suddenly the left side of the U.S. national team goes from a mild concern to a full-blown problem.
Already struggling to find an automatic starter at the troublesome left back spot, now coach Bob Bradley needs to figure out how to replace Beasley at left midfield. Given the nature of Beasley's game and his reliance on speed, you have to figure that it's going to be at least a year before he's back on the field, and maybe even two years before he gets back to where he was prior to the injury.
The question now is who succeeds him at left midfield, where the options seem plenty but there's no obvious choice. Here's a look at the candidates (in no particular order):
1. Bobby Convey -- Convey would seem to be the most logical choice, but he's been having injury problems of his own and hasn't played that much for Reading the last two seasons in the EPL and hasn't exactly set the house on fire with his form as of late. I must admit I've never been completely sold on Convey, he's a player that tempts you with flashes but too often lacks composure in front of goal.
2. Justin Mapp -- The knock on Mapp continues to be that he's a defensive liability, that he drifts in and out of games and that he might lack the quality to break down defenders at the international level with the ease in which he does it in MLS. The last point is a viable concern, but until Mapp gets more chances, we won't know the answer to it. The first two concerns are merely an ongoing mental adjustment that people need to make towards flair players and drop the caveman soccer mentality that prizes "work rate" above all else. Yes, you cannot field a team with a bunch of flair-types in the lineup and yes, sometimes they can be a defensive liability and inconsistent. However, the whole point of a flair player is that they can at any given moment provide a cutting edge and be a match winner and it's for that reason that you always need one or two in your lineup at all times.
3. Arturo Alvarez -- The current flavor of the moment and basically the criticisms about him mirror those directed at Mapp -- except there's the additional concern about his temperament. Since Alvarez is in the U-23 squad for the Olympics, he gets a chance to prove the doubters wrong, but he needs a shot in the senior team. In addition to having many of the same qualities Mapp possesses, Alvarez has a quality that is rare for the U.S. team and that is the ability to shoot with power from range and score from distance -- something that is sorely lacking for the U.S.
4. Freddy Adu -- For now, Beasley's injury potentially solves the dilemma of how to get Adu, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey all on the field at the same time. The question of course if whether Adu will be happy and productive on the left side, since he views himself as an attacking mid in the No. 10 playmaker role. If he embraces the position, he could certainly be the answer here.
5. Jonathan Bornstein -- Bornstein might be a viable solution here at left mid and possibly maybe even better suited for it given his defensive limitations at left back. He has the pace, ball control and crossing ability to be effective, and I'd rather see him tried here instead of at full back.
6. Eddie Lewis -- If you value experience, then Lewis is your guy. There's no question he still has a sweet left foot and delivers a nice cross. However, the question is do you really start someone who will be 36 by the time the 2010 World Cup rolls around? The answer should be yes only if you think his presence would be critical in helping the U.S. qualify. However, given the ease of CONCACAF region, the U.S. would be best served seeing what the younger players are made of.
So who wins out? From my perspective, I think the battle for left mid should boil down to Mapp, Alvarez and Adu. That said, what I think will happen is that Bradley will ultimately opt to go with the veteran experience of Lewis initially or try Bornstein in that role with Heath Pearce at left back instead.